Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I seem to remember reading Ben or John saying on this or the RIC forum that all the basses made from April 2009 on have the new thin neck profile. Has anyone bought one and can confirm?

I'd be very tempted to buy one if that's the case!

From what I have read the necks were thinner in '08 and have since gotten thicker again. My May '08 4003 has a neck that is virtually the same feel as my '73 4001.

I just picked up a 9/09 4001C64S that I had on order from Rhoads music since last yr. It has a thinner neck than my '73 4001 FL. I think the "C" basses have thinner necks than the current 4003 bass. Why do they keep switching?? I bought the C64S without trying it first, I am really impressed with the overall quality and feel. I've heard that the current 4003 has gone to a two piece neck, making it larger.

My guess would be that it was done to help reduce deadspot issues, but it is only a guess. A thicker neck should be more stable. We likely won't find out the exact reason.

In terms of dead spots, the only Ric I have ever even played that displayed one AT ALL was my 2008, which is why I had to put lighter tuners on it to fix it (and it did). So my 2007 and 2009, both which are thicker-necked, had no dead spots. One cause of dead spots is physical vibration of the neck that is same frequency opposite phase of the note that is disappearing... this can be fixed by A) stabilizing the neck (thickening it, laminating it) or B) lightening the headstock, like I did.

rickboy88 wrote:My guess would be that it was done to help reduce deadspot issues, but it is only a guess. A thicker neck should be more stable. We likely won't find out the exact reason.

If they really produce 2 piece necks now I guess it's probably more to do with stability or economy issues of the one piece necks.
The factory gave "a shortage of dimensional wood" as a reason for the skunstripe bass necks of the '70ies, but I don't tend to believe that either.
As a matter of fact, any woodworker knows laminated wood is more stable.

paul_yan wrote:...I seem to remember reading Ben or John saying on this or the RIC forum that all the basses made from April 2009 on have the new thin neck profile. Has anyone bought one and can confirm?...

Ben once posted saying "4003's manufactured from April 2009 on have slimmer neck profiles than ones built in 2008." How these compare to the previous slimmer neck profiles isn't clear though, just that they're slimmer than last years production.

I've not seen one in the flesh to confirm though but hope this helps.

stevebasshead wrote:

paul_yan wrote:...I seem to remember reading Ben or John saying on this or the RIC forum that all the basses made from April 2009 on have the new thin neck profile. Has anyone bought one and can confirm?...

Ben once posted saying "4003's manufactured from April 2009 on have slimmer neck profiles than ones built in 2008." How these compare to the previous slimmer neck profiles isn't clear though, just that they're slimmer than last years production.

I've not seen one in the flesh to confirm though but hope this helps.

The ones in 2008 were super-thin, and very clean-sounding. I know, my 4003FL is one. If the two-piece necks *drool* are thinner, then... gosh, that's gotta be approaching Jazz Bass territory.

stevebasshead wrote:

paul_yan wrote:...I seem to remember reading Ben or John saying on this or the RIC forum that all the basses made from April 2009 on have the new thin neck profile. Has anyone bought one and can confirm?...

Ben once posted saying "4003's manufactured from April 2009 on have slimmer neck profiles than ones built in 2008." How these compare to the previous slimmer neck profiles isn't clear though, just that they're slimmer than last years production.

I saw that too.

Thanks for chiming in, guys. And thanks Stephen, and Jeff for the link!

It would be even more tempting if the necks are 2-piece! Laminated necks are just way stonger than one-piece necks! I'd definitely buy a 4003 if the 2-piece construction is standard spec now!

By the way, I should have written "Do" instead of "Does" in the title of the thread. Bad English from me!

Forum Rules wrote:7. Links to other chat forums are not allowed.

Guys, please do not post links to any other forum here. I've had to edit them out twice in this thread.

paul_yan wrote:By the way, I should have written "Do" instead of "Does" in the title of the thread. Bad English from me!

Paul, your English is pretty good!

Thanks for the mercy, Joey!

paul_yan wrote:Thanks for the mercy, Joey!

All fixed, Paul. We've all made some flubs in our posts and thread titles!

rickenbrother wrote:

Forum Rules wrote:7. Links to other chat forums are not allowed.

Guys, please do not post links to any other forum here. I've had to edit them out twice in this thread.

Oops! I forgot about that rule.

Okay...I also remember reading a quote somewhere by Ben Hall that said: "4003's manufactured from April 2009 on have slimmer neck profiles than ones built in 2008."